Most of us know what solar power is; Solar power is the generation of electricity from sunlight. There is a lot of technicality to how a photovoltaic cell works, however, I am not going to bore you with my rudimentary knowledge. I will let you know that solar power is the wave of the future. Portable solar chargers are available to the public now and really are a violable option for charging our mobile devices.  Solar chargers come is all shapes and sizes including solar backpacks, solar cell phone chargers, solar laptop chargers, and more products are coming out every day. It is amazing how we all have figured out how to use energy from the sun to convert that to something so useful and efficient. I am amazed whenever I think about it. Even more amazing is how manufacturers can implement this technology in our everyday lives such as streetlight, cars, homes, cell phones, watches, computers, and even chargers.

You may not realize just how useful and convenient solar technology is or how far it has advanced. A solar power charger is able to charge a battery in order to store electricity as a solar energy supply for use when you need power. When solar powered devices first saw the light (no pun intended), the technology could only be used during the day. Fast-forward to today and there is technology that allows a solar product to actually store the energy it collects. That is brilliant. Remember those pesky solar calculators? I would sit at my desk in school with my nifty solar calculator only to ask to borrow a battery powered one due to insufficient light. Those were good times, but today are better times because we can now harness that energy for later.

Some manufacturers have explored the possibilities to run and charge iPods off the sun. Solio is the leader in solar USB chargers.  They have developed four Solio chargers including the Solio Rocsta, Solio Mono, Solio Classic and the Solio Mag. These mobile solar chargers collect power and transfer it to your mobile devices including Ipods, Iphone and just about any other mobile device. The price for these solar chargers ranges from $50.00 – $150 dollars.

Brunton is another leader in solar chargers. They produce a wide verity of portable power devices. At the time this article was written they have five solar charges in there Solaris line. One of my favorite solar chargers is called SolarRoll. SolarRoll is as the name suggest – a solar panel that you can roll out flat to collect that energy. The SolarRoll comes in three sizes depending on the output you need. If you are looking to charge something like a laptop, you will need one with the output of 14 watts. It can provide a full charge in about 5 to 10 hours depending on the quality of sunlight. What is great about the SolarRoll is that you can link them for greater output. When you need to move on, just roll this sucker up and go on your way. Price range from $295 and $695 depending how large you get them.

The Voltaic Generator sounds like a beast and it is. This solar charger is actually built into a backpack. This solar backpack has a battery pack to store the energy it collects. It can charge an array of gadgets and hold a laptop up to 17 inches. It generates a wonderful 15 watts of power, which takes about a day to charge however. What I love about the Voltaic Generator is the fact that it is completely environmentally friendly. Not only does it use the sun’s energy for you gadgets, it is made of recycled PET, making it water resistant and extremely light. Unfortunately, the bag still ways a hefty 5lbs. At $599, you may want to ask your shoulders twice if they want to carry that weight. If you go to school, I have the perfect option by the same company. Voltaic solar bags look like backpacks and charge your devices, generating a generous 15 watts of power.

I’ve only mentioned a handful of solar panel chargers. There are many more products that are specific to your needs. If you need a solar charger that charges smaller devices, I would recommend Solio’s list of great solar chargers. It is without a doubt that solar technology will advance quickly and become part of our lives even more. Like all new technology, the price has deterred many of us from going with solar energy methods, however, according to Earth2Tech, the cost has dropped by half already! As time goes by and the technology advances, you will find that products will be created with solar technology built right in like a few products. The solar technology focuses on cost-effective methods of energy that reduces the country’s dependence on imported fuels, improve air quality, and offset greenhouse gas emission and that spells success for the future of solar technology.